Outbreak of bubonic plague in Madagascar kills 47
An outbreak of bubonic plague has claimed 47 lives so far in Madagascar and is spreading to the capital, Antananarivo.
Two people have already been infected in Antananarivo, one of them dying.
According to the Daily Mail, health workers have mounted a pest control campaign through slum areas around the city.
Those who had contact with the infected have been given antibiotics to try and stop the spread of the disease.
200 households have also been disinfected.
The health ministry said there has been 138 suspected cases of the disease since the beginning of the year, Discovery reports.
Plague is spread by fleas and mostly affects rats, but humans can also contract the disease if they are bitten by a disease-carrying flea.
The bubonic plage causes swelling of the lymph node but can be treated with antibiotics.
However, the death toll is likely to increase in coming months if the disease is not contained.
The last case of plague in the capital was 10 years ago, said Christophe Rogier, of the island's Institut Pasteur.
"It is possible that the plague continued to survive in Antananarivo for 10 years without touching humans," with the virus restricted to its rat population, he said. "Rats are a natural reservoir of the plague, and they also survive the plague."
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